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Based on the fact that the Sahara dust cloud, in addition to sand, contains minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, silicon and mercury, as well as viruses, bacteria, fungi, pathogenic mites, staphylococci and other compounds, it is to be expected that it affects the biochemical balance of the environment.
On 19 July, many meteorological experts from the Caribbean region announced the arrival of the largest dust cloud from the Sahara this year. That day, an elevation of the already hot temperatures and an increase in the indices of allergic conditions were predicted.
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Temperatures have been rising in the region since last week, with cloudy days and very little rainfall. Increased heat sensations have been noticeable in Havana, Cuba's capital, since Friday, mitigated by the scarce but refreshing rain that fell yesterday, Wednesday, over different municipalities of the city.
The rise in allergic conditions has not yet been reported by medical institutions, but it is expected that in the coming days they will pronounce on the issue.
However, little has been said about the effects of the Sahara dust cloud on the natural ecosystem of the Caribbean.
According to Eugenio Mojena López, Ph.D. in Physical Sciences, advisor of the Forecasting Center of the Institute of Meteorology, the marine ecosystem is one of the environments that are most affected by this cloud of particles, although not the only one.
One of the most sensitive damages is the accentuation created by the declining dust cloud on coral reefs. Corals are more vulnerable these days to fungal attack, joined by those endemic to Africa.
However, the greatest damage to the marine ecosystem these days is caused by the proliferation of red tide events, associated with large algae blooms, many of which are toxic. With the passage of the cloud, which reaches the intensification peak and load this July, the red tides tend to intensify.
Based on the fact that the Sahara dust cloud, in addition to sand, contains minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, silicon and mercury, as well as viruses, bacteria, fungi, pathogenic mites, staphylococci and other compounds, it is to be expected that it affects the biochemical balance of the environment. In this sense, the specialist explained that these contents end up nourishing the algae that since “2011 have been invading the beaches in Mexico, Belize, Martinique, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and even in South Florida in greater quantities every year”.
In this regard, the Mexican Secretary of the Navy warned of the massive arrival of 32 million tons of sargassum to the country during the course of the year, which, according to the Physicist, may be further intensified by an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus in the algae nutrition environment this week.
There will also be an increase in the number of algae on the shores of the beaches, which upon decomposition release large quantities of toxic gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. All these compounds in the water can cause neurological and cardiovascular disorders, difficulty in breathing, nausea, dizziness, headache, vertigo and skin rashes in bathers.
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